Instep-arch support.



J. 'W. ,elmmwsxsarm.-

INSTEP ARCH SUPPORT. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1911.-

1 ,O55.3U6. Patentd Mar. 11, 1913.

Attest I W V Inventor-H,-

by v

arch

UNITED STATEbl PATENT OFFICE JAMES W. ARROWSMITH, F MORRI$TOWN, NEW JERSEY.

INSTEP-ARCH SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 11', 1913.

Application filed August 5, 1911. Serial N9. 642,508.

ZTojaZl whom it may concern 33s. it. known that I,- JAMns W'. Annowliiifl'i fl, a citizen of the United States, residing in the town of Morristown, county of 5 Morris, and State of New Jersey, havein- Vented certain new and useful Improvements -;in:Instep-Arch Supports, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to supports for the of the human instep, and its objects are among others to strengthen the support and render it. more elastic and durable and'xiiore adaptable to the various ,forms of insteps requiring a support. I g I The improvements consist in the constructrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the-said drawings, F gure 1 is an underside. view of ah inste support embodyan improvement on the support shown in of the support,t

ing theimprovements; *ig. 2 is a vertical cross section on the line 2- 2 of Fig. 1; Fig.

3 is a pers ective of the brace or underbridging orming a part :of the support.

The present invention is in the nature of Patents No. 717,523. granted to me January 6, 1903, and No. 748,553. granted to me Docember 29, 1903. In these patents is shown 30 an arch su port with a slitted side portion and a. rein orcinig strip secured to the body reinforcingstrip on top of the main plate and-the former having it beneath the main plate and between the slitted portion and the o posits edge of the support. These forms of support have many advantages, and it has been found that the durability of the main plate. is' greatly increased by the use of the reinforcing strip. However, numerous diifliculties have arisen, and among them are the. difficulty of so constructing and arranging the reinforcing piece or underbridging that it will not cause the fingers formed bythe slitting of the upturned side portion to bend over its inner edge and crystallize and break off, and the difficulty in constructing the underbridging so that it will not itself crystallize and crack transversely.

the advantages of the reinforced supports of the patents above referred to and at the same time provide a spring contact between thereinforcing strip and the base of the latter patent having this The present support is designed to give all edge and give way beneath the weight of the wearer. v

The main metallic plate A is arched to approximate the arch'of the instep and is provided with an upturned side portion B divided into spring fingers B'by slits running into the body of the main plate. The main plate and side portion are provided with a cover F of non-metallic, flexible material secured thereto by the rivets-D.

The spring reinforcing strip C is secured to the underside of the main plate at its ends by the rivets D and bridges the arch of the said plate. It is substantially triangular in form, having its greatest width and the apex of the triangle in the middle of the arch of the main plate. 011 the inner edge of this reinforcing strip C is a rolled-over portion E, integral therewith and extending over the said strip approximately half its mean width. This rolled-over portion has its greatest width at the middle of the reinforcing strip and opposite the apex of the triangle, and from there tapers toward each end, terminating a short distance from the ends of the strip. Its upper surface E is substantially flat, to correspond with the under surface of the main plate immediately from the ends toward the center, leaving a space between the said outer edge and the strip, as shown at vX.

It will be seen that the reinforcing strip with the rolled-over inner ed e extending over a portion of its upper sur ace provides a support for the arch of the main plate and also a spring support for the portion of the main plate at. the base of the shtted side portion, at which point the contact between the reinforcing plate and the main plate covers a considerable area and extends from end to end of the side portion along the line of junction of the said side portion and main plate. The effect of this construction is to reinforce the plate along the line of junction and for an appreciable distance on both sides of said line in such a manner that no fulcrum is given for the fingers composing the side portion to bend sharply/and thus form lines of crystallization. The formation of the rolled-over portion at the inner edge of the reinforcing strip also provides a reinforcement and support increasing in strength and resiliency from both ends, toward the middle to receive a part of the finger-sand strengthen the reinforcingstrip' hat it"ttill hht crystallize along its inner,

weight of the wearer when the main plate and side port-ion are'depressed. The upward curvature-of the part E is on a smaller radius than the upward curvature of the mainplate A above it, and the main plate is not, therefore, brought in contact with this part between its ends and its medial part until it has been deiressed by the weight of the wearer to a certain extent. This tends to give this portion of the support greater elasticity as well as durability.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. An arch-support comprising a plate formed to approximate the under surface of the human instep-arch, an upturned side portion formed to approximate the side portion of the said instep-arch, a series of slits extending from the outer edge of said upturned side portion to the interior of the plate and dividing it into spring fingers, a reinforcing strip extending from a point near one end of the main plate to a point near the opposite end and connected therewith at its ends, said reinforcing strip having a portion at its edge along the line of junction of the body and side portion folded over and projecting between the plate and reinforcing strip along substantially the length of the side portion, the inner edge of said folded over portion being out of contact with the body of the reinforcing strip and its upper surface being substantially parallel with the adjacent under surface of the plate.

2. A11 arch-support comprising a plate formed to approximate the under surface of the human instep-arch, an upturned side portion formed to approximate the side portion of the said instep-arch, a reinforcing strip extending from a point near one end of the main plate to a point near the opposite end and connected therewith at its ends, said reinforcing strip having a portion at its edge along the line of junction of the body and side port-ion folded over and projecting between the plate and body of the reinforcing strip along substantially the length of the side portion, the inner edge of said folded over portion being out of contact with the said body of the reinforcing strip near the middle, and its upper surface being substantially parallel with the adjacent under surface of the plate.

An arch-support comprising a plate formed to approximate the under surface of the human instep-arch, an upturned side portion formed to approximate the side portion. of the said instep-arch, a reinforcing strip extending from a point near one end of the main plate to a point near theopp'osite end and connected therewith at its ends, said reinforcing strip having a portion at its edge along the line of junction of the body and side portion folded over and projecting between the plate and reinforcing strip along substantially the length 7 of the side portion, the inner edge of said folded over portion being out of contact with the body of the reinforcing strip near the middle. I

4. An arch-support comprising a plate formed to approximate the under surface of the human insteparch, an upturned side portion formed to approximate the side portion of the said instep-arch, a reinforc.

ing strip extending from a point near one end of the main plate to a point near the opposite end and connected therewith at its ends, said reinforcing strip having a portion at its edge along the line of junction of the body and side portion folded over and projecting between the plate and body of the reinforcing strip along substantially the length 6; the side portion.

I5. An arch-support comprising a plate formed to approximate the under'surface of the'human instep'arch, an upturned side portion formed to approximate the side por- I tion of the said instep-arch, a longitudinalreinforcing strip extending from a point near one end of the main plate to a point near the opposite end and connected therewith at its ends, said reinforcing strip having a portion atits edge along the lineof junction of the body and side portion folded over and projecting between the plate and reinforcing strip along substantially the length of the'base of the side port-ion, the inner edge of said folded over portion being out of contact with the body. of the reinforcin strip and its upper surface being substantially parallel with the adjacent under surface of the plate, but out of contact therewith between its middle and its ends.

6. An arch-support comprising a plate formed to approximate the under surface of the human instep-arch, an upturned side portion formed to approximate the side portion of the said instep-arch, a longitudinal reinforcing strip having a portion at its edge along the line of junction of the body and side portion folded over and projecting between the plate and body of the reinforcing strip along the base 'of the side por' tion and terminating beneath said body.

7 An arch-support comprising a plate formed to approximate the under surface of the human instep arch, an upturned side portion formed to approximate the side portion of said instep-arch, a series of slits extending from the outer edge of said upturned side portion to the-1nteri0r of the plate and dividing it into spring fingers, a reinforcing strip extending from a point near one end of the main plate to a oint near the opposite end and connected t ere- With, said reinforcing strip having a portion of its edge along the line of junction of the body and side portion folded over and projecting toward the opposite side,a.nd covered by its body.

' .said reinforcing strip having a portion at '8. An arch-support comprising a plate formed to approximate the under surface of the human instep-arch, an upturned side portion formed to approximate the side portion of the said instep-arch, said upturned side portion being provided with cuts through the metal thereof, a reinforcin stri extending from a point near one end of t e main plate to a point near the opposite end and connected therewith at its ends,

- its edge along the hue of junction. of the body and side ortion folded over'toward the opposite e dge along substantially the length of the si e portion. 9. An arch-support comprising .a plate formed to approximate the under surface a of the human nstep-arch, an upturned side portionformed to approximate the side por-' tion of the said instep-arch, a reinforcin strip extending from a point near one en of the main gate to a point near the opposite end an connected therewith near its ends, said reinforcing strip having a portion at its edge along the line of junction 25 r 

